Stalingrad - 'Gingerbread or the Whip'

8th January 1943: It is increasingly obvious that the situation for the 6th Army inside Stalingrad is hopeless - and the Soviets invite surrender

As Soviet forces outside Stalingrad encircled Axis forces in a large pocket including the city itself, Soviet forces within the city continued to engage in fighting for the city at a horrendous cost to both sides, but with the balance of capabilities and casualties moving increasingly in favour of the Red Army. In this picture as well T-34 tanks are shown in action, this time supported by infantry in an attack on German positions somewhere within the city. Although elements of the German 4th Panzer Army were trapped within the Stalingrad pocket, severe shortages of fuel and ammunition would soon hamper their activities as much as enemy action. Sputnik 882842

Fighting for the factory districts of the city of Stalingrad continued after the November encirclement of the city. Here a Soviet gun crew - once again as in the previous chapter with the new ZiS-3 divisional gun - is shown in action within the confines of the Red October Factory. Also, the gun is similarly being used in a direct-fire role, as indicated by the fact that the barrel is nearly on the horizontal. As noted earlier, the Red Army was particularly likely to use divisional artillery in such a manner, where relatively manoeuvrable guns were easier to train to hit a target when used in such a manner. This picture was apparently taken on 10 December 1942. Sputnik 2245

The Russian phrase knut i pryanik, 'whip or gingerbread', is used to characterise a mix of threats and promises. This was the approach adopted by the Soviet army as they attempted to avoid further losses at Stalingrad. An invitation to surrender was drawn up, to be delivered to the Germans inside the besieged city.

Your encircled troops are in a grave situation. They are suffering from hunger, sickness and cold. The harsh Russian winter is only just beginning: hard frosts, cold winds and snowstorms are still to come, but your soldiers do not have winter uniforms and are living in unsanitary conditions.

The document¹ set out the cold facts of the situation - the 6th Army was not going to be rescued and the supply situation was going to get worse: